Clumsy Barbarian: Backstory

This is a Clumsy Barbarian backstory which is great for anyone who wants to play the lighter side of a barbarian character. Feel free to use it as is or adapt it for your game.

I hail from a sweet little village nestled in an idyllic valley with rolling green hills covered in pastures. A place where livestock roam about with little fear of predators, butterflies flit between flowers and the sun shines most days of the year. A beautiful, peaceful life is lived by all…. 

Well all but the my farm. There you can regularly hear the sound of shattered glass or breaking wood, doors being pulled off hinges, chairs being shattered into pieces and smashing, bashing and trashing all day long. And every single time something breaks the silence that ensues is followed by my meek, “I’m sorry.” 

And one fine morning my parents sat me down in my favourite chair – which has been repaired several times already – and explained to me that their home and village was now a little too small for a girl as big (and strong) as I am and that it was time I struck out on my own to see the world for myself and find my place in it. 

I felt sad and rejected about leaving everything I knew. But there was also a little spark of excitement. Is there a better place in the world for me? Am I really going to be able to find a place where the chairs are strong enough for me and don’t break, the platters of food are large enough that I don’t look like I am taking more than my share of food?

As I kissed my parents goodbye and took the lovingly prepared food parcel from my mother and the little pouch of coins from my father I realised that maybe, just maybe I would find a place in the world where her size and strength were useful and not a hindrance. And as I walked away from the little village with a spring in my step I stopped to smell a flower and almost squished a butterfly by accident. 

“Yes,” I thought. “I will find my place in the world. A place where I belong.”